Use of Conversion and Acoustic Signals in Measuring Depression Severity

描述（由申请人提供）：本项目的目的是初步评估一种新型抑郁症监测技术的心理测量特性（重测信度，标准有效性和变化敏感性），该技术使用患者语音的声学测量。Vocal Social Signals Platform（VSSP）是一个分析语音韵律（非语言）特征的软件。一个人的语音的声学属性一旦被分析就被称为语音社会信号（VSS）。由于抑郁症患者的言语韵律可能会发生变化，因此，声音社会信号可以为评估抑郁症症状提供有用的测量工具。在这项研究中，我们将采用VSSP来分析抑郁症患者的语音与自动电话会话系统（电话连接通信{TLC}）。由此产生的声乐社会信号（VSS）的心理测量特性将是我们提出的研究的主题。在这项研究中，声乐社会信号将比较两种不同的可靠和有效的工具。一种工具（PHQ-9）是一种简短的常用问卷，具有良好的信度和效度。由于PHQ- 9是一个简短、有效和可靠的问卷，它已被修改为不同的模式，如通过电话和自动格式（例如，计算机电话和网络）。第二个工具，抑郁症状量表（IDS），由健康专业人员在半结构化访谈中进行管理。IDS是一个相对较新的30项抑郁症症状严重程度的衡量标准，包括诊断DSM-IV重度抑郁症所需的所有症状领域，它也评估症状缓解。IDS具有用于检测不同级别症状的缩放项。我们将评估重测信度的VSS，其效标效度和检测变化的能力，通过比较它的IDS和PHQ-9在80个人（60抑郁症和20非抑郁症）。VSS将在5个数据收集点与PHQ- 9进行比较，而VSS将在2个数据收集点与IDS进行比较。然而，在所有五个数据收集点期间，参与者将提供录制的语音样本，因为他们将与管理PHQ-9（TLC-PHQ 9）的TLC系统匡威。这项研究的重要性是双重的：1）如果单独的VSS被证明是可靠和有效的，那么研究人员和临床医生就有可能利用VSSP软件通过记录患者的语音来检测抑郁症和抑郁症症状严重程度。2)然而，如果VSS和PHQ-9的组合更好，则用于评估抑郁水平的理想方法可能是PHQ-9的自动电话施用与患者言语的VSS分析（例如，对PHQ-9问题的回答）。总之，在这项研究中的VSS的评估提供了一个显着的改善，在研究中，并可能在临床实践中抑郁症的严重程度水平的测量潜力。公共卫生相关性：该项目与公共卫生有关，因为它能够为临床医生提供客观的措施，以轻松和不引人注目地评估抑郁症患者的症状严重程度。这反过来又会提高和改善抑郁症治疗的效率和效果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The aim of this project is the preliminary evaluation of the psychometric properties (test-retest reliability, criterion validity and sensitivity to change) of a novel depression monitoring technology that uses acoustic measures of the patient's speech. The Vocal Social Signals Platform (VSSP) is software that performs analysis on the prosodic (non-verbal) characteristics of speech. The acoustic attributes of a person's speech once analyzed are referred to as the Vocal Social Signals (VSS). Since depressed individuals may demonstrate changes in their speech prosody, Vocal Social Signals could present a useful measurement tool for assessing depression symptoms. In the proposed study, we will employ VSSP to analyze the speech of depressed patients who converse with an automated telephone-based conversational system (Telephone-Linked Communications {TLC}). The psychometric properties of the resulting Vocal Social Signals (VSS) will be the subject of our proposed study. In this study, the Vocal Social Signals will be compared to two different reliable and valid instruments. One instrument, (PHQ-9), is a brief, commonly used questionnaire with good reliability and validity. Since the PHQ- 9 is a brief, validated and reliable questionnaire, it has been adapted to different modalities such as over the telephone and in automated formats (e.g., computer telephony and the Web). The second instrument, the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS), is administered in a semi-structured interview by a health professional. The IDS is a relatively recent 30-item measure of depression symptom severity that includes all the symptom domains needed to diagnose a DSM-IV major depressive disorder and it also assesses for symptom remission. The IDS has scaling items to detect different levels of symptoms. We will evaluate the test-retest reliability of VSS, its criterion validity and its ability to detect change by comparing it to the IDS and to PHQ-9 among 80 individuals (60 depressed and 20 non-depressed). The VSS will be compared to the PHQ- 9 in 5 data collection points while it will be compared to IDS in two data collection points. During all five data collection points, however, the participants will provide a recorded voice sample as they will converse with the TLC system which will administer the PHQ-9 (TLC-PHQ9). The importance of this study is two-fold: 1) If the VSS alone is demonstrated to be reliable and valid, then it would be possible for researchers and clinicians to utilize the VSSP software to detect depression and level of depression symptom severity by recording a patient's speech. 2) However, if the combination of the VSS and PHQ-9 is better, then an ideal methodology for assessing depression level might be an automated telephonic administration of PHQ-9 combined with a VSS analysis of the patients' speech (e.g., their responses to the PHQ-9 questions). Altogether, the evaluation of VSS in this study offers the potential of making a significant improvement in how depression severity level is measured in research and possibly in clinical practice. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This project is relevant to public health as it has the ability to provide clinicians with an objective measure to easily and unobtrusively assess symptom severity in depressed patients. This in turn will increase and improve the efficiency and efficacy of depression treatment.